Report and Reaction: Larin leaves it late but Canada off and running at World Cup with a point against Bosnia

Years of planning, years of anticipation, and years of nervous excitement came to a head in Toronto on Friday afternoon as Canada opened their 2026 World Cup campaign with a battling, come-from-behind 1-1 draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Jovo Lukic headed the Bosnians ahead in the 21st minute, but Cyle Larin scored within two minutes of coming on in the 78th minute to fire Canada level and spark a huge explosion of noise inside the stadium from the fervant home crowd.

But the winner just wouldn’t come for either team and the points were shared, the first ever point at a World Cup for Canada. Both teams will be pleased and disappointed at just taking a single point from this one. Bosnia won’t be happy they late a lead slip late and didn’t capitalise on a chance to double their lead, while Canada will rue their missed chances and dropping two points in a match that would have set them up nicely for what’s to come.

Group B got off and running with the first ever meeting between the two teams and Jesse Marsch went with the line-up that most predicted, with perhaps the only surpise being that he handed Tani Oluwaseyi the start to lead the line over Larin, who hadn’t looked at his best in the warm-up friendlies.

Canada came out fast and on the front foot, earning a corner in the first minute but they couldn’t make it pay. But Bosnia soon took over and were looking particularly dangerous on the break.

Amar Memic fired high and over in the third minute after being set up by a nice cutback in the box, and Lukic headed wide two minutes later.

Jonathan David had Canada’s best chance to open the scoring in the 17th minute, when he got the ball with time and space, but fired straight at Bosnian keeper Nikola Vasilj from 13 yards out.

It was a costly miss as Bosnia took the lead five minutes later from a well worked corner. Ivan Basic whipped the ball in for Sead Kolasinac to flick on at the near post, and with Max Crepeau flapping, Lukic headed home from close range, sending the Bosnian fans into delirium.

Canada responded well, with Oluwaseyi curling one over in the 32nd minute as they started to control possession.

Bosnia looked happy to sit back now, soak up some pressure, and hit on the counter, with the danger for Canada being that they over commit looking for the equaliser and Alistair Johnson sitting on a yellow card.

But despite forcing nine corners to Bosnia’s one, there was to be no breakthrough for Canada before half time.

With no changes for either side at the break, Canada knew they needed to take the game to Bosnia in the second half and they came close to finding their equaliser in the 53rd minute when Richie Layrea’s shot was saved by Vasilj and then sent crashing off his own bar by Kolasinac, falling agonisingly the other side of the line.

Bosnia went straight up the pitch and almost got their second when Ermedin Demirovic was played in, but a heavy first touch allowed Max Crepeau to come off his line and just get his foot on the ball to knock it away.

Canada pushed hard to try and get back in the game, but weren’t finding a way through a resolute Bosnian defence, and Marsch made a very attack-minded triple substitution just past the hour mark, bringing on Ali Ahmed, Jacob Shaffelburg, and Promise David.

They brought a spark to the Canadian attack, but it was only the introduction of Larin that saw them finally get their equaliser.

Larin was on the pitch for just two minutes when he was played in superbly by a nice little flick on from Promise David, and his shot took a deflection off the side of Nikola Katic to take it past Vasilj.

Both sides tried to find a late winner, with Canada’s best chance falling to Larin in injury time, but his shot was blocked and both teams had to settle for a point apiece.

Canada will take a lot from coming back for the draw, but it will also feel like two big points dropped. While a win against Qatar next week all but secures their advancement into the knockout rounds, the ultimate goal is to win the group and stay in Vancouver for the stage or stages.

To do that they will need to be a lot better, particularly in their set-piece deliveries. Too many times they were not getting their heads onto corners and their crosses in general let them down time and again. Their pace will definitely cause problems and they need to harness that danger, while keeping a solid defensive shape, which they sometimes forgot against Bosnia. The attacking subs brought such a spark and it will be interesting to see what Jesse Marsch does for his team selection against Qatar.

But a first ever World Cup point is still something to celebrate, as was the tremendous atmosphere in the stadium. A first win now on Thursday and they can dream of the knockout games and once you’re there, in a one-off match, anything can happen.

FINAL SCORE: Canada 1 – 1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

ATT: 43,002

SCORING SUMMARY:
21′ – Jovo Lukic (Bosnia)
78′ – Cyle Larin (Canada)

REACTION:

CANADA

JESSIE MARSCH

On the first-half performance and tactics:

“I feel I didn’t do enough to get them ready for the first half, but then the response that we showed in the second half and some of the messages that I gave at half time helped.”

“I’m disappointed with the first half. I just felt we were tentative. We didn’t play as aggressively as I would have liked.”

On the second-half comeback:

“We felt like we had them. We were starting to push the game, the subs came on to change the game. I told them, ‘We’ve got them, now it’s time to push your foot on the jugular.’ I’m disappointed with the first half. We didn’t play aggressive. We talked about it afterwards and the second half, the moment we stepped on the pitch, was different … but we have to make sure we learn from today. We’ll keep pushing.”

“I told them after the match that if we play like that second half, the whole match, we win.”

On team pride and the team’s identity:

“The guys belt [the national anthem] out to the top of their lungs because they want to show the country how proud they are to be here… They’re impeccable in their character, they’re impeccable in their work ethic and commitment to each other.”

On the atmosphere in Toronto and the crowd:

“In a difficult moment, we responded, and I have to also thank the crowd. The crowd, I think, willed us into the game.”